PPL (NYSE:PPL) Given New $36.00 Price Target at Barclays

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PPL. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on PPL in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PPL from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of PPL from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of PPL from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.27.

PPL Price Performance

Shares of PPL traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.23. The company had a trading volume of 4,565,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,583,561. The company has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $33.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.84. PPL has a 1-year low of $25.87 and a 1-year high of $35.28.

PPL (NYSE:PPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). PPL had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Analysts expect that PPL will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

PPL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. This is a boost from PPL's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. PPL's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PPL

In other news, SVP Tadd J. Henninger sold 6,639 shares of PPL stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.16, for a total value of $213,510.24. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,210 shares in the company, valued at $360,513.60. The trade was a 37.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John R. Crockett III sold 1,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.12, for a total transaction of $52,627.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,845 shares in the company, valued at $359,186.40. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,633 shares of company stock valued at $346,657. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PPL

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners raised its stake in PPL by 8,266.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,518,141 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $309,060,000 after buying an additional 9,404,382 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,509,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PPL in the 4th quarter worth $147,480,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in PPL by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 34,758,947 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,115,824,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731,412 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in PPL by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,465,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $891,532,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.99% of the company's stock.

About PPL

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.6 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.